Outstanding win by 3rds
Warragul thirds gave their finals hopes a shot in the arm with their best win of the season against Bairnsdale on Saturday.
The Gulls were brilliant in inflicting only the second loss on Bairnsdale this year.
And they did it well – by 39 points, 13-4 to 6-7.
Warragul remains 6th on the ladder but is now only out of the “five” on percentage.
A blistering opening term in which they kicked 6-2 to 1-1 put Warragul on course to pull off the upset.
Although the Redlegs pushed hard in the following two quarters the Gulls held firm before kicking away again with four last term goals.
A great team performance was led by Braxton Ah Mat, Noah Gown, Fraser Phillips, Patrick Mulqueen and Sam Fennell.
Fennell kicked five goals, Gown three, Liam Giliam, Mason McGarrity and Phillips two each, and single goals were scored by Will Pyle and Ryley Green.
It was harder going for Warragul’s fourths against top of the ladder Bairnsdale.
The Gulls went to the halfway break trailing by 21 points after a competitive showing but were overrun in the second half and especially the last quarter when the Redlegs booted nine goals.
The young Gulls have notched two wins and have put in encouraging performances in a number of the other games.
They’ll be looking to improve their win/loss ratio in the second half of the season.
Best for Warragul were Harrison Pyle, Connor Ives, Tom Carpenter, Cooper Alger, Jake Kallady and Matthew Boyles.
Jai kicked three of the Gulls’ goals with Brayden Notman and Alger getting the others.